NSB stadium repairs on track for football season opener

The visitors bleachers had been especially battered from years of exposure to salty and windy conditions because it's the section closest to Ponce de Leon Inlet.

RICHARD CONNSTAFF WRITER

NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Repairs to the visitors bleachers at New Smyrna Beach's sports stadium are on track to be finished in time for the first high school preseason football game there Aug. 23, the manager of the city's sports complex said. The tilt between New Smyrna Beach and Timber Creek will put football fans back in the stands that had been especially battered from years of exposure to salty and windy conditions because it's the section closest to Ponce de Leon Inlet. City officials said temporary bleachers would be set up if the repairs weren't going to be finished in time, but for now everything is on schedule, said Matt Musgrove, manager of the 68-acre sports complex. "That's our opening day for that grandstand and as of right now, it looks like we're going to be just fine," he said. The Sports Complex Task Force, a seven-member body created by the City Commission to come up with recommendations to improve the Turnbull Bay Road complex, in its April 2012 report considered repairing the grandstands the top priority. Officials said without the renovations the bleachers were about a year away from not passing inspection. In May, the City Commission approved a bid of $387,130 from the firm of AG Pifer to perform the work. The deteriorating conditions could have also been accelerated because the powder coating used to protect the steel in the grandstands was damaged in shipping or installation, city Chief Building Official Mike Knotek said after he inspected the stadium in October 2011. "That powder coat, you get a crack in it and rust gets in there and spreads like wildfire," Musgrove said. Hot-dipped galvanized steel is being used in the foundation this time around that should better stand up to the elements. While the bleachers aren't being replaced, they are being repainted while the supporting structure is being fixed. "So by the time the new structure is done, they'll be able to be pop the bleachers right back on and we're ready to go," Musgrove said. The home bleachers are not as severely rusted as the visitors' side, but Musgrove said they would eventually have to be replaced as well. "The home side just does not show the same amount of wear that the visiting side did," he said. "The visiting side the joints just looked awful." Repairs to the home section could be funded in a potential $9 million revenue bond that would also pay for expansions of City Hall and the Brannon Center, among other projects, Assistant City Manager Khalid Resheidat said. The City Commission is expected to consider several financing options on Aug. 13. Revenue bonds do not require voter approval.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.